Here at Sophie’s World we’re passionate about animal welfare. It’s perhaps genetic: apart from the family and very close friends, our mum/grandmum generally preferred animals to people. The rest of us aren’t quite that extreme, at least not yet. Alexandra is a vegetarian solely for animal welfare reasons, none of us use cosmetics from companies […]

Four Nobel Peace Prize recipients hail from South Africa. That’s quite an impressive number; only six countries have more. At Nobel Square on the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, you’ll find Nelson Mandela along with South Africa’s three other laureates.

During a visit in South Africa earlier this year, I visited Imizamo Yethu, a township in Hout Bay Valley, a seaside suburb of Cape Town. I was first in South Africa in 1993, just months before Nelson Mandela was sworn in as president. At that time, by chance, I met a man who ran tours […]

Imagine standing here, looking across to the mainland, knowing that’s where your family and friends are – and where you might not set foot for 20 years or so. View of Cape Town from Robben Island. Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years of imprisonment here on Robben Island. However, although he is the […]

I’m still in the Caucasus, and articles will be coming up when I’m back, or possibly before (Internet cafes depending). Meanwhile, I thought I’d tell you about this worthwhile animal rescue project in South Africa. On an impromptu visit in Cape Town earlier this year, to meet my childhood friend Ingrid, we had time for […]